


The Heart of Atlantis

by Winchester_with_Wings



Category: DCU, The Flash (TV 2014), The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Disney, Angst, Atlantean Princess! Reader, Atlantis, Atlantis The Lost Empire, DO NOT COPY, DO NOT REPLICATE, Disney AU, Do Not Translate, Earth-2, Earth-2 Barry Allen looks like Milo Thatch, Explicit for future sexual content, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Reader is basically Princess Kida, Reader-Insert, Reader-Interactive, Smut, request, writing challenge
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-01
Updated: 2017-05-23
Packaged: 2018-07-28 18:44:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7652575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winchester_with_Wings/pseuds/Winchester_with_Wings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on Disney’s Atlantis: The Lost Empire and set on Earth 2 where Atlantis was discovered 10 years ago and turned into a vacation resort, Bartholomew Allen embarks on a journey with a team to explore the undeveloped part of the island in search of someone who went missing 4 years ago. There he meets and falls in love with Princess Y/N and Atlantis. Not everyone on the expedition has pure intentions though, and soon Y/N and the power of her people are endangered. Can Barry, an ordinary man, help Y/N and the Atlantean people or will it take a metahuman to stop another metahuman?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is for @sincerelysaraahh‘s A Month of Fairytales! I picked Atlantis: the Lost Empire and Earth 2 Barry Allen.  
> I also got this anon request: Could you do a e2 Barry imagine that’s kind of like and Atlantis the lost empire au with Barry as the role of milo and the reader as the role of kida (I’m asking because Atlantis is canon on e2)
> 
> This is written in Barry’s and the Reader's POV! E2 Barry isn’t married to Iris but there is implied past WestAllen. On Earth-Two, Atlantis is a real place and it sounds like it’s a vacation destination. This fic will follow along with some plots of the Disney Atlantis movie with the exception that Atlantis is not a lost civilization but a recently discovered one. Jesse Quick is Jesse Wells in this fic. The reader is basically Kida so her physical characteristics will be based on Kida in this (white hair, blue eyes, tan skin) This fic turned into a beast of a story so there will be several chapters! Feedback is welcome!!

* * *

  


 

* * *

Iris West’s heels were clicking far too loudly on the granite floor as she walked through the Central City Natural History Museum. It had been a while since she’d visited her friend at his second job. Long enough that she had to check the directory at the front desk to find out where Bartholomew Allen worked.

She finds it unusual that she’s told by a stuffy old lady that he is two levels underground and she needs to take the stairs to get there. The door to the stairway is tucked into the corner, set far apart from where the elevators are located. The lights flicker and there is only one security camera that she could see and it doesn’t look like it’s on and recording.

The stairs lead to a dark hallway with a few doors that lead to empty offices and what looks like storage rooms. There’s one door where, through the window, Iris can see a light turned on. There’s lots of noise coming from the room which appears to have once been labelled “The Boiler Room.”

Iris knocks but there’s no answer. There’s music playing and she can hear Barry’s voice projecting as if he’s practicing a speech. She slowly turns the knob, calling out her friend’s name as she peeks in.

“Oh! Iris! Come on in! I could use an audience to practice in front of.”

Barry pulls Iris into the messy office. She notices some exposed pipes and a boiler and several other plumbing devices. This place definitely wasn’t meant to be an office. She starts sweating the moment Barry urges her to sit down. It sounds like she’s come in during the last half of his speech.

“Now I know Atlantis was discovered quite some time ago. However, a lot of the island has yet to be explored due to the indigenous people,” Barry gestures to a map of the island drawn on a large green chalkboard. He’s clearly defined the borders of the Atlantis Resort and the rest of the island. “I believe, according to historic records,” he takes a moment to elaborate specifically, “that there is still a lot more to discover about this island; a history waiting to be uncovered.” Barry holds up one of the artifacts he’s been using as a prop. He pushes his glasses up his nose and give Iris a sly grin. 

“Pause for effect,” he says through his teeth. Iris giggles but is interrupted by the gurgling of the boiler behind her. Barry waves off the noise as a non-issue and pushes forward with his speech. 

“With the museum’s support, I would like to lead a capable research team to finally explore what our world has yet to colonize so that we can further understand this recently discovered civilization. Gentlemen,” Barry holds up his hands, clearly preparing for a formal audience and not the one single female audience of Detective Iris West, “Let me clarify, this would not be a mission to colonize and develop this land into the sort of society we have here in Central City. This would be an opportunity to understand the already well-established civilization and culture that was long forgotten up until almost ten years ago. Thank you.”

Iris gives Barry all the applause she can muster. She can tell that this is a very important project for him and she thinks the Board of Directors for the museum would be crazy to deny him. Though she still wonders if his speech includes one of the main reasons why he wants to go.

“So what did you think?” Barry asks Iris. He can trust her to give him an honest opinion. That’s what a best friend – turned girlfriend, turned ex-girlfriend, then back to best friend – is good for. She stands up and approaches Barry. With her thumbs, she wipes away some chalk dust on Barry’s cheek. Before she can speak, a phone on the wall rings. He reaches for it with urgency. “Bartholomew Allen, Room B7,” he answers. “Oh okay, one second.”

Barry puts the phone down and goes over to the boiler and proceeds to fiddle with the gauges and even hit a few of the pipes with a wrench. The haunting moans of old pipes and an outdated water heater echo throughout the room. Iris looks up as she hears water rushing overhead. A drop of lukewarm water falls on her hand. Barry clambers back over to the phone, navigating around Iris and the desk and other tables.

“Is that better? Good. Oh and about my meeting with the board today…” Barry’s interrupted and Iris watches on with disappointment as Barry’s face falls. “No! Wait! Please don’t do this! Where are they now? No they can’t leave! I’ve been waiting weeks for this meeting!” Barry hangs up the phone harshly and his shoulders are heaving up and down as he takes deep breaths.

“Barr…I’m really sorry,” Iris starts to say but Barry cuts her off by holding up a hand. He spins around and starts to gather a few books and stacks of papers and his lightest prop.

“Wait. Don’t go anywhere! I’ll be right back. I’m not giving up just yet.”

Barry leaves Iris in his makeshift office and charges up the stairs two at a time. He bursts through the stairwell door just in time to see the Board of Directors heading for the exit. He chases after them, pushing past a security guard who’s only trying to say “no running” and then he spins around a startled blonde haired woman with crimson lips. Barry notices that she watches after him, stopped in her tracks as if he’s made her reconsider wherever she was going. He can’t spare a second to wonder what that means because he’s catching up to the men right before they all get into a luxurious Towncar. He manages to prevent them from opening the car door.

“Wait! You have to hear me out! You didn’t even give me a chance to explain my proposal! It would be great for the museum!”

“Mr. Allen! This is incredibly unorthodox and rude!” scolds one of the old men.

“We have heard enough about your pet project and all about your ulterior motives.” Barry’s heart falls into his stomach. “The museum is not in the habit of funding wild goose chases,” says another man.

“But–but this is for the history! And that is what the museum is all about, isn’t it?” Barry counters, but the men just turn their nose up at him.

“Mr. Allen, Atlantis was discovered ten years ago. There’s nothing left to discover, so give it up.” The third man is tall and slender, looming over Barry with a scowl on his face like he’s just smelled bad cheese.

Barry wants to respond. He wants to tell them that they’re being incredibly ignorant and narrow-minded because there’s always something left to explore. But he bites his tongue. He’s too much of a coward to truly stand up for himself. He’s already acted out more than usual.

“We have another, far more important meeting across town to get to. Now get out of the way.”  Barry allows the fourth and last man to move him out of the way so that the car door can be opened. One by one, they start to climb into the car.

Realization dawns on Barry. “Wait, so you guys never intended to keep the meeting you had with me?” Did they really always plan on cancelling last second so that they could go to the other meeting?

“Mr. Allen, like we said, the museum does not fund wild goose chases or search and rescues for people that aren’t even missing.” Barry doesn’t meet the last man’s eye contact because he doesn’t want to admit that they’re right. “Perhaps…somehow…if you do manage to go to Atlantis and _you_ go missing…maybe then we’ll send a team.” The man gets in the car. “But until then, please pack up your things. We no longer need you in room B7.” The fact that he closes the car door without giving Barry a new office assignment makes it crystal clear that he’s just been fired.

Barry tries to make it back to what used to be his office in the basement without drawing attention to himself. The lady at the front desk, however, bids him to come over.

“Psst! Barty!” She never got the hang of calling him by his preferred nickname. He approaches her and she holds out a business card. “That pretty blonde lady you nearly ran into…she left this for you. She said she was interested…in what? I don’t know but she was really pretty. Maybe she wants to go out with you?” She winks at Barry which makes him chuckle as he accepts the card. It’s only a phone number and the silhouette of a black bird.

“Did she say what her name was?” Barry asks, shifting all of the books and papers in his arms to readjust his glasses.

“Oh um…something with an L…Leslie…Lauren…Laura…oh! Laurel! Do you know her?” Barry shakes his head, totally puzzled. Was she interested in his Atlantis proposal? How could she have even known about it? He figures that he’ll consider calling later on. Until then, he needs to get back to his office and to Iris.

 

* * *

 

It irks Barry that Iris isn’t more surprised about this turn of events. She’d helped him gather everything in that office that was actually his, which conveniently fit into two boxes. Then together they walked down the two blocks to the CCPD.

As Head Detective, Iris was swarmed with messages and reports from other officers when they arrived but she waved them all off so that she could help Barry unpack his things in his lab upstairs.

“Honestly Barry, I didn’t understand why you worked there. Why you let them put you _in that basement?_ It was a terrible second job. If you needed more money, I could’ve looked into getting you a raise here,” Iris tries to reassure him. Barry shrugs though as he sifts through his things and begins to find a place for them in his lab. He’d put up with the boiler room/office because it had given him a space for this research but he supposes a bulletin board will have to be enough.

“It wasn’t about the money, Iris. You know why I was there. It made the most logical sense that they would fund the expedition but…I guess not.” Barry starts to tack documents on the board. In the middle of the board, he pins up a picture. Barry takes a step back, his frustration leading him to untie his bowtie.

Iris stares at the picture of Dr. Harrison Wells. A famous theoretical and applied physicist, Barry practically idolized him. And then he went missing four years ago.

There were rumors that he was dead or had faked his death because he didn’t want to be found but the general theory was that he’d gone to Atlantis and was never seen again. Some people liked to joke that he took a vacation and decided to stay there. But others, including Barry, figured that he had gone for academic or scientific reasons and that he was lost somewhere on the other side of the island. Atlantis, apparently, is quite a large island. It’s a wonder how it stayed hidden for so long.

“I know you won’t give up Barry,” Iris sighs, resting her hand on his back. “But sometimes I wish you would,” she whispers, daring to be honest. Barry’s head drops because he’s heard it before and he knows Iris only wants what’s best for him. “You’re too smart to be wasting your time on anything that isn’t worthwhile and the work you do here for the CCPD against the metahumans…that Dr. Wells created, by the way…that’s more important and we couldn’t do that without you.”

“I know, I know. I know you’re right.”

“Of course I am,” Iris chuckles and rubs Barry’s back. “Now I gotta get back to work and so should you.”

“Okay,” Barry nods as Iris gets up and leaves the lab. Between his fingers, though, is the business card with a bird and a phone number.

 

* * *

_One Week Later…_

Laurel Lance made Barry an offer he couldn’t refuse.

She’d known so much about Barry and his Atlantis research that it should’ve been a red flag. But Barry was too excited to finally have someone supporting this expedition. The motivations weren’t all the same but it could all have the same end result, right?

From what Barry could discern without having met the man yet, Laurel’s boss didn’t necessarily care about Dr. Wells but he was definitely interested in the exploration of the other half of the island. And if he didn’t mind that Barry had a secondary motivation that wouldn’t get in the way of the main goal, then Barry couldn’t see why he wouldn’t join the trip.

And Barry wasn’t the only recruited member. It seemed that Laurel’s boss had been putting together this expedition for quite some time and was just waiting for the last piece before they could set sail. Barry was that last piece apparently.

Laurel was that beautiful blonde woman with crimson lips that Barry had almost collided with that day at the museum. Once he’d called her, she had taken him out to dinner (the old lady at the desk had been partially right) and made her own preposition for enlisting him. She cited Barry’s extensive research on Atlantis as the reason for why he would be an asset to the team. She also mentioned that there were rumors of scientific anomalies at the resort that Barry might be interested in as well, since he was an expert in metahuman activity.

Barry was ready to say yes right then and there. But Laurel put a cherry on top.

“We’ll pay you twenty thousand dollars to accompany us,” she’d said. Barry wasn’t a greedy man but seeing as he already wanted to agree, the money certainly didn’t discourage him.

Iris couldn’t talk him out of it either. She begrudgingly agreed to let him take the time off of work as long as he promised to return. It was a done deal.

So here Barry stands on the deck of a boat that is somewhere between a small cruise ship and a modest yacht. Everyone has their own room with comfortable beds and nice sheets and there’s a dining room where halfway decent food is served.

Barry’s met two of the other people on the team. One is named Francisco Ramon and he’s the leading mechanical engineer for the ship and the tech that the team is expected to use, as well as the demolitions expert.

“In case we run into any roadblocks in the uncharted territory,” he’d explained.

He ties his long black hair back into a half-ponytail and holds himself up like he’s better than everyone else. He kind of reminds Barry of someone but he can’t recall. And Barry doesn’t feel like he can make conversation with him anyways; he reminds him too much of a bully.

And then there’s someone Barry _should have_ but _didn’t_ expect: Jesse Wells. Dr. Wells’ brilliant daughter with all of her degrees, she’s the jack of all trades member of the team. Barry is barely able to resist the urge to geek out over her. It helps that she looks at him like a nerd she’d rather not associate with.

“I’m here to find my dad and that’s it,” she tells him.

Barry wants to tell her that he’s got the same goal in mind but he doesn’t want to seem weird or obsessive. Because he’s totally _not_ , right? He decides that he’ll tell her later on into the journey since it takes a few days to reach Atlantis by sea.

At the end of the first day on the boat, Barry finally meets Laurel’s boss. He’s a tall and fit man with short blonde hair parted to the side. His eyes are a steely blue and something about them is off-putting.

“You must be Bartholomew! I’ve been looking all over for you.” Barry turns around, closing his most recent journal of notes.

“Oh um, you can call me Barry,” he says, extending a hand as a greeting. The man’s grip is stronger than Barry expects and there’s a slight zing to the contact of Barry’s skin with his, as if his skin is electrically charged. If Barry’s welcoming grin falters a bit, that’s why the man releases his hand. “Thank you so much for inviting me along.”

“Well of course! Laurel has told me all about you. I’m excited to be working with you. Can’t wait to see what you can do.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name?” Barry asks politely.

“Oh yes! Sorry. Where are my manners? My name is Hunter Zoloman.”

 

* * *

_Three days later…_

The news about the original discovery of the Lost Empire of Atlantis ten years ago was darkened by the account of the journey itself.

It had been an undersea adventure harrowed by supposed sea monsters attacking the submarine and destroying it until only a team of several dozen were left to explore the undersea air-pocket caverns. There, they discovered other monsters and even fireflies that started fires (if you believe the stories). And when they found Atlantis, some power, which has yet to be identified, brought the entire island to the surface. (Just like the force that sunk it, Barry assumes it was a volcano that raised it.)

Within a few years of its discovery, a small portion of the land was granted development rights and work began on the Atlantis Resort which would instantly become a hot, new vacation and honeymoon destination.

Barry and Iris had been dating at the time and while they weren’t married, they were serious enough to plan a vacation together. But then they’d broken up, and rather than let the tickets go to waste, Barry and Iris agreed to give the vacation to Barry’s parents for their anniversary.

Sometime later, Dr. Harrison Wells went missing. Rumors swelled around his disappearance and though his daughter Jesse had filed a missing person’s report, the case went cold. Barry’s curiosity, his friendship with Det. Iris West, and his own access with CCPD, gave Barry the chance to look into the case. And that’s how he drew the connection to Atlantis.

Copies of Dr. Wells’ notes have made it into one of Barry’s journals and they dictate that, at the time of his disappearance, Dr. Wells had developed an unusual interest in Atlantis and it’s mythology. Being the genius that he is, Dr. Wells wrote his notes in code as if it were an ancient language and Barry had yet to decipher it all.

It’s the last night on the boat when Barry finally get Jesse Wells to warm up to him. She’d recognized her father’s handwriting in one of his journals while he sat at a table in the dining room.

“How did you get my father’s notes?” she asks with a high pitched tone that Barry would almost describe as snobby.

“Oh Um…” Barry doesn’t stop her from sliding his journal over as she sits down beside him. “I work for CCPD, they were included in his missing person’s report.” Hearing about the long forgotten report softens Jesse’s exterior.

“So you actually believe my father is missing? Not dead or living a new life after faking his death? You actually still believe he’s out there?” There’s a hint of hope in her voice that makes Barry give her a reassuring grin. He runs his fingers through his hair and pushes his glasses up his nose.

“Of course! Dr. Harrison Wells is too important to forget and far too smart to just leave the life he had in Central City behind.” Jesse nods her agreement. “I never had the honor to meet him but I especially doubt that he would leave you behind if he was leaving town with the intention to never come back.”

“You’re right. My dad did–does have an ego, but I _know_ he loves me. He’s got to be out there somewhere, and I’m going to find him,” Jesse says, sitting up straight in her chair with determination.

“Why do you think he’s in Atlantis? I mean, I have my theories but as his own daughter, you must have more insight. You wouldn’t trek to Atlantis if you didn’t have good reason.”

“My dad is an expert in tracking the energy signatures of his particle accelerator and it’s by-products…”

“The metahumans?”

“Yes,” Jesse stares down at Barry’s journal, at her father’s notes. She borrows his pen and starts to decode some of the words he didn’t know. “Just before he disappeared, he’d managed to amplify the radar that tracked the metahumans. Right on the edge of his radar, just out of reach, something else registered.”

“And it was coming from Atlantis?” Barry keeps his voice down. No one else on this boat cares about the search for Dr. Wells but if he was onto something major, and kept it a secret before he left, then maybe it should stay a secret. Jesse shrugs.

“As far as he could tell, it was coming from the direction of Atlantis. So maybe he needed to get closer? I don’t know. I honestly am just so worried that he was lost at sea,” Jesse’s eyes tear up and Barry places a hand over hers to comfort her. “But what if he found whatever he was looking for? That worries me too. Why would it stop him from coming home? What if it was some all-powerful meta and he was killed…? I just…I have to know. And Atlantis is my only clue.”

“I promise, Jesse, I’ll do whatever I can to help. I want to find him too. And we will.”

It’s as Jesse starts to silently cry that Barry realizes that this search for Dr. Wells is so much more than a pet project and Jesse is more than just a Wells fanatic like him. Yeah, she’s a grown woman–though a year or so younger than him–but she’s also a girl looking for her father, hoping he’s still alive.

 

* * *

 

The Atlantis Resort is large and extravagant, a truly spectacular-looking island paradise.

Jesse compares it to the Bahamas but Barry wouldn’t know. He’s never been on a vacation to a place like this and it’s not like he’s going to experience it now.

The boat may dock at the resort’s port but the team doesn’t stay there long. The crew of the ship gets to stay at the resort though; Francisco grumbles about that being unfair.

By the look of manicured vegetation and developed landscape, there’s a clear difference between where the resort ends and the rest of the island begins.

Hunter hires a local Atlantean to guide their trek into the jungle. He’s youthful with tan skin and blue eyes but white hair; which seems to be a dominant trait on the island. He speaks excellent English and even knows how to drive the truck, both of which are a result of working at the resort.

Jesse is fascinated by the man’s assimilation and asks him tons of questions. She bids Barry to write down his answers and he’s happy to do so. Learning about the culture and civilization was another one of his goals, and it is supposedly Hunter’s and Laurel’s objective too. But the two of them sit cozy in the backseat with Francisco to the side and Laurel in the middle. They’re looking at some documents and a small and durable laptop. They’re not listening because they’re whispering amongst themselves.

The next day on their journey, when everyone is outside of the trucks (there was a second one for other anonymous workers) and walking around, that’s when Hunter’s attention is on the Atlantean. Jesse and Barry are looking at the ruins which, the guide says, were not protected when the island sank hundreds of years ago. When Laurel asked how the empire _was_ protected, the Atlantean smiles and points up to the sky. He speaks in his native tongue, leaving Laurel confused.

“He said it was their gods who protected them, like a shield,” Jesse translates. Barry raises his eyebrows in surprise. “What? I can speak several languages. Once Atlantis was found and we figured out the root of their language it was easy to learn.” She gives Barry a slightly cocky smile, which he finds endearing.

“I’ve heard that this island has rare stones, gems or crystals. What can you tell us about that?” Hunter asks. His tone is light as if he’s trying not to sound like a jewel thief. The local man freezes up, unsure of how to proceed. The Atlanteans are probably very cautious about speaking about any wealth their people and their land may have.

“Well if there’s a volcano on this island or even under it and other caves, there may be some crystals but without the proper tools they might not be able to mine it, Mr. Zoloman,” Barry explains.

“I thought the expedition was non-invasive?” Jesse adds and Barry is grateful to have an ally who’s willing to speak up if things aren’t going the way they should. Francisco clicks his tongue in disapproval but Hunter shoots him a glare.

“You’re correct, Ms. Wells. I was only asking because I was interested in the properties of the earth and to see if it’s used as currency.” He turns back to the Atlantean. Barry notices the man touching his chest, either to cover his heart or to hold something under his shirt. “Is it?”

“No, Sir. If we find any jewels, they are used in jewelry. But it does not happen often.”

Barry can assume that everyone in the group knows he’s lying. He recalls that earlier he may have noticed the Atlantean wearing a crystal necklace. But if the man is choosing to hide it, then it’s not Barry’s place to push.

He continues to walk amongst the ruins while Jesse looks at the images carved into the stone walls. Laurel and Francisco are walking around but Barry can’t tell what they’re looking for. They’re not dressed for the jungle though so they’re stumbling and tripping on rocks and roots and grumbling to each other. (Granted, Barry isn’t dressed for the jungle either, in his wingtips and sweater vest and bowtie but he hadn’t had the time to change and he’s managing okay.)

They’re completely out of earshot but from the way they begin to argue, Barry is torn between avoiding the situation and eavesdropping.

“Don’t you dare point those hands at me,” Laurel hisses.

“Well then keep your voice down, you harpy!” Francisco bites back.

That’s enough to make Barry turn away. If Barry has already seen their “good” side…he certainly doesn’t want to see their bad side. Barry starts to walk along the perimeter of the ruins. He notices the jagged lines where the earth has been broken up. Pieces of the land raised and other portions sunk. There must’ve been an earthquake here when the ruins were “created.”

It looks like the place where Barry is standing was once a large room or maybe a balcony, judging by some short half-walls. The ground is solid stone. Intricate patterns which had been carved into it are broken up by deep cracks. Steam rises from one of the cracks, which suggests that maybe he was right and there was a volcano under the island or maybe at least a hot springs.

The steam and the humidity of the jungle fogs up his glasses. He takes them off and starts to clean them with his sweater when he hears Laurel and Francisco’s voices increase in volume. And then suddenly, there’s some loud, unnatural boom and strained creaking of wood.

“Barry look out!!” Jesse screams as a large tree starts to fall in Barry’s direction. 

Without his glasses on, he’s unable to judge the terrain as he darts to get out of the way and he’s sent hurtling over the balcony and rolling down a hill in the direction of more ruins.

The ancient stones of a once lost civilization bring Barry to an abrupt stop and the last thing he hears is the crack of his his skull and a sharp pain on his arm.

 

* * *

 

He must’ve hit his head. Right? That’s what that sound was, right? Right before he passed out?

As Barry comes out of his unconscious state, an unfamiliar female voice is all he can hear and she’s not speaking English.

He’s expecting to see this woman when he opens his eyes but instead it’s a large tribal mask that scares him half to death! Barry gasps, his heart races and his limbs flail as he tries to scoot out from under the gaze of this monster. But the monster acts fast and removes the mask.

His blurry gaze lands on a woman with tan skin and long white hair framing her face, giving her a halo in the late afternoon sun. There’s blue paint on her right cheek and throat. She’s speaking to someone else, standing at a distance from Barry which he can’t see without his glasses.

His hand pats around on the jungle floor next him, feeling for them. The woman picks them up for him. She examines them for a moment before smiling kindly and offering them to him. He slides the slightly dirty and potentially damaged glasses onto his face. 

The woman is even more beautiful with 20/20 vision. Her eyes are as blue as the Caribbean waters and they’re staring at Barry as if he’s a new species of animal. Her full lips purse in confusion and she reaches out to trace the rims of his glasses. And then she’s caressing his cheek like she knows and cares him. She seems fascinated by him and asks Barry a question in her language.

“I’m sorry. I don’t understand,” Barry whispers, his roll down the hill and collision with the ruins has left him disoriented and out of breath. She recognizes the English language.

“Uh…who…are you?” Her voice is sweet like honey with a slight accent. Barry tries to sit up, but a pain on his arms has him hissing out a breath in surprise. “You are…hurt?” she says. They both notice the blood seeping through the fabric of his shirt.

Barry allows the strange Atlantean woman to raise his arm and roll up the sleeve. There’s a decently sized gash there, likely from a rock on his fall down. She takes from around her neck a necklace with a dangling blue crystal. For a moment, Barry’s pain is forgotten and replaced with utter curiosity. He smiles and squints at it.

“What is that? What’s it for?” he asks. It looks identical to the necklace their Atlantean guide had too. The woman holds up a finger and presses it to Barry’s lips.

“Shush!” she snips. Barry’s eyebrows raise and his glasses slide down his nose a bit. She smirks and pushes them back up. Is she familiar with glasses? Barry makes a mental note about how touchy she his…and that he likes it…a lot.

She holds the crystal in her palm and rests it on top of Barry’s hand. Her eyes close for a moment as she takes a deep breath and then the crystal begins to glow. It lights up a path along Barry’s flesh and begins to creep up his arm to the injury and like magic–it can’t _actually_ be magic right?–the wound heals and even all the blood on his skin fades away too. Barry stares with wild eyes and a gaping mouth.

“How did…wh-what…how did you do that? What is that?”

The woman’s male companion lends a hand to get Barry back on his feet. The man is bare-chested with lighter skin, an indigo tribal tattoo sleeve and spiky pitch black hair. It’s the tattoos and the way he’s dressed in a sort of skirt or tribal sarong for men that suggest he’s Atlantean. That, and the crystal necklace.

“Don’t worry about it,” he says. “What happened?”

“Um…” Barry looks up the slope he’d fallen down. The large tree is standing out, overhanging the side of the hill. “That tree…it was falling…” There’s a rustling in the trees and Barry thinks he hears Jesse calling his name but then someone else’s voice speaks out.

“Y/N! Move!”

The temperature drops suddenly and white mist forms out of nowhere, right before giant, sharp icicles are flying through the air towards Barry. The woman who’d just healed him–who must be Y/N–pulls him out of the way. He wasn’t the intended target. They’re aimed at Jesse and the rest of his group whom are emerging from the trees!

Barry doesn’t know how to act fast enough but Y/N does. With one hand and a flick of her wrist, the icicles are redirected at a 90 degree angle, hitting trees instead of people.

“Don’t hurt them!” Y/N calls out to the woman who’d produced the frozen projectiles. She steps out of the shadows and Barry is stunned to see another beautiful woman with pale, glowing white skin and hair with blue lips. She holds out her hands and the mist surrounds her as a long spear made of ice is sculpted by the sheer will of her mind.

“They’re strangers! We should be cautious,” she advises, coming to Y/N’s side, tense for a fight. Jesse runs to Barry’s side to look him over.

“Hey Frost, don’t worry about it,” the man with spiky black hair says. The way he speaks is definitely not Atlantean. “Y/N has it covered.”

Y/N holds up her hand to make the whole expedition group come to a halt. The Atlantean guide steps forward to converse with her, she listens as he speaks to her with elevated respect that has Barry wondering who she is. Then she turns her gaze onto Barry.

“Who are you?” she asks him again. The answer sounding more important than ever.

“Bartholomew Allen. My companions and I have come to explore this side of the island. We mean no harm or disrespect…to the land or the people,” Barry answers, trying to sound formal and diplomatic. The woman with the blue lips (it looks like paint, similar to the paint on Y/N’s face) scowls at him skeptically. Her icy spear has since melted though.

It hasn’t escaped Barry’s notice that this woman must be a metahuman or something like that. Had Y/N exhibited powers as well? How was all this possible? He wouldn’t get the answer anytime soon.

“And your companions, what are their names?” Y/N looks at them for their answers.

“I’m Hunter Zoloman. This is my expedition and my team. This is Laurel Lance and Francisco Ramon,” Hunter gestures to the two on his right. Y/N points to Jesse.

“And you? What is your name?”

“Um…” Jesse looks uncomfortable to have been singled out. She tucks some of her hair behind her ear, nervously. “My name is Jesse…Jesse Wells.”

Y/N looks back at her black-haired friend and the woman he’d referred to as Frost. They seem to silently confer on something before Y/N takes a hold of Barry’s hand.

“You’re all coming with us.” She starts to tug him in one direction, picking up a spear she must’ve propped in the ground after finding him.

“What? Why? Where are we going?”

“To our home. Jesse’s father will be anxious to see her.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know chapter 1 was super long. The rest of the story is gonna be in shorter chapters just so that I can update it more often. <3

**[Mobile Masterlist](http://winchester-with-wings.tumblr.com/post/130456879221/mobile-master-list)  / [Ko-Fi](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fko-fi.com%2FA533DBO&t=NzdjNzcyMTBjODllZmM2ZDAwNjAyZDlkMWU0Zjk1Y2UyOWVlZDRmMCxIVWthU1ZVQQ%3D%3D&b=t%3AmwLbyqtw0KZitaA28C7TOg&m=1)**

* * *

[Originally posted by pixarsgifs](https://tmblr.co/ZACAUg2Dz-9hP)

* * *

No explanation is forthcoming after dropping the words “Jesse’s father.”

Y/N simply squeezes Barry’s hand and looks at him with excitement.

“I cannot explain it. You will have to see,” she teases him.

Their new Atlantean escorts allows the group to double back up the hill to the ruins where the trucks were parked. Y/N and her friends seem familiar with cars and Barry has to remind himself that mainland technology is not so foreign to Atlantis now.

Y/N instructs the original guide to drive “home” and he knows exactly where to go. She then chooses to sit next to Barry in the truck; Francisco is reassigned to the other truck.

“So your name is Y/N?’ Barry asks her. She responds with a long and elegant Atlantean name. After a couple of tries and fails at pronouncing it, she giggles and puts her hand on Barry’s knee.

“You can call me Y/N. Ronnie was once a mainlander like yourself, he started calling me Y/N and I like it.”

“And Ronnie is?”

“With the…the tattoos…” Y/N gestures to her arm. So Ronnie is the Atlantean with black hair, Barry presumes. “He left the mainland and has lived with us for six years. He has an Atlantean name that means…” She pauses to think through the translation. “…Deathstorm,” she giggles, “He picked it himself.”

“And your other friend?” Hunter interjects from the backseat. Y/N startles as if she’d forgot he was there with Laurel and Jesse. Deathstorm and her friend were in the other truck. “With the ice powers?”

“My sister,” Y/N’s voice is curt and protective. “Her name means…Killer Frost. She is one of our best warriors. You would be wise to stay on her good side,” she offers a warning with a smirk. Her lips pull together into a tight line and Barry’s convinced that he shouldn’t press about her sister’s abilities, though he is curious how an Atlantean could be a metahuman when it was the particle accelerator that created them.

Barry also notices through the rearview mirror that Hunter is staring at Y/N and her necklace. After witnessing what it did to help him, Barry can understand the fascination, but why is Hunter so interested in it?

* * *

After driving for half an hour, Y/N declares that the rest of the journey has to be completed on foot. No one complains, the excitement and anxiety of their destination is enough to make everyone willing.

The jungle is dense and everything looks the same. Barry imagines that it would be quite easy to get lost in here. He’ll never remember how to get back to the trucks. But maybe that’s what Y/N wants. After all, her home is a mystery. Barry hadn’t expected to run into Atlanteans on this half of the island, but he realizes now that it was naive of him to think so. Of course, not all Atlanteans live and work on the resort right?

“So your name is…Bartholomew?” Y/N asks, his name sounding thoroughly unfamiliar to her. She’s been walking beside him this whole time. Barry stumbles more than once and each time, Y/N tries to save him from himself. As Barry gets back on his feet, he wipes at his pants, adjusts his glasses and then straightens his bow tie. “Are you alright?” She smiles. Barry sighs, lifting his chin to fiddle with his bow tie before finally untying it altogether and tucking the fabric in his pocket.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just a mess,” he replies. “You could call me Barry, if you prefer?”

“Barry?” she tests the name on her tongue and he loves the way it sounds. “I like it,” she grins. Barry starts to mess with the buttons of his shirt. “You _are_ quite messy,” she giggles. “Do you always wear so much clothing?”

A part of Barry is inclined to think of that as a flirtation but that would likely be a miscommunication. He takes note of how she’s dressed: a tight and twisted band of blue cloth to cover her breasts and then a short sarong skirt, which is also very tight. She’s gorgeous head to toe (she’s barefoot?!) and the smartest part of Barry’s brain is telling him that the best thing he can do for the both of them is keep as many layers on as possible.

But the humidity of the island is becoming too much and Barry notices that the blood from his former arm injury has made a mess of his shirt. So he unbuttons and takes it off, revealing his tank top underneath.

“It gets cold where I come from and it’s actually very common to dress like this,” Barry explains. Y/N’s nose crinkles with distaste, which makes Barry smile even more.

“Where you are from…what do you do? You are a scholar, are you not? You don’t look like a warrior,” she comments, looking Barry’s slight but lean frame up and down. Barry blushes, despite her comment. His assumption is that a warrior was a role held in high esteem in Atlantean society. Barry wants to puff up his chest and say that he could be a warrior if he wanted to. But he quickly puts that idea to bed since his city is plagued by dangerous metahumans and he’s not exactly the bravest man in Central City. How could he be, when the city’s most formidable villain was the superfast monster known as Zoom?

“I work with the city’s _warriors_ , helping them catch the bad guys. I’m a forensic scientist,” Barry says, fully expecting her to not understand.

“A scientist? Like Harry?”

That brings Barry up short, almost tripping once again. The entire group catches up a second later. Apparently Jesse was following closely, and probably eavesdropping.

“Harry?! Do you mean my father? So he’s here? You have him?! Is he your prisoner?! Are we your prisoners too?!” Each question out of Jesse’s mouth gets louder and more shrill, building with urgency, paranoia and anger.

Killer Frost gets defensive, her stance getting wider and icy mist emitting from the palm of her hand. Deathstorm’s hand seems to glow orange just before he takes her icy hand in his. There’s steam and she visibly calms down.

“Harry is not our prisoner and neither are you. You will be our guests. Our father, the King, will welcome you,” Y/N reassures them all. Francisco and Laurel both chuckle with surprise.

“The King?” Laurel asks at the same time Francisco says,

“You’re a princess? You’re both princesses?”

“And warriors,” Killer Frost reiterates with a hiss.

“There will be time to explain. We’re almost there,” Deathstorm defuses the situation before it has time to begin. And he isn’t even lying. A hundred feet ahead, Y/N pulls back a curtain of thick vines.

“Welcome to the real city of Atlantis!”


	3. Chapter 3

 

**[Mobile Masterlist](http://winchester-with-wings.tumblr.com/post/130456879221/mobile-master-list)   ** **/[Ko-Fi](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fko-fi.com%2FA533DBO&t=NzdjNzcyMTBjODllZmM2ZDAwNjAyZDlkMWU0Zjk1Y2UyOWVlZDRmMCxIVWthU1ZVQQ%3D%3D&b=t%3AmwLbyqtw0KZitaA28C7TOg&m=1)******

*gif is not mine*

 

Everyone stares in awe as the scenery before them. Barry even thinks Hunter is pleasantly surprised with the city. Looking down from their position, it’s a stone labyrinth of neighborhoods building up to a hill on which the palace stands.

“What do you mean the _‘real’_ city of Atlantis?” Laurel asks, as Y/N starts down a set path into the city of beautiful architecture and a colorful culture. There are several small ports which suggest they’re near the coast, how is it possible that this place could be a secret?

“When the mainlanders found Atlantis, what they found was only one of our cities. We chose to keep this one secret. Those Atlanteans who wanted to experience the outside world stayed in the city that would become your resort. Others moved here, our true citadel.”

And the city is bustling with Atlanteans! It seems that they walk through at least two markets on the way to the palace. Everyone notices Barry and the rest of the group. Not all stares are cheerful and curious though, some are downright confused, scared, or angry.

“We don’t usually let outsiders into this city. We kept it a secret for that reason,” Killer Frost says.

“I found the place by way of a boating accident. Frost here found me and nursed me back to health,” Deathstorm tells his story, wrapping an arm around Killer Frost’s shoulders. “By the time I was healed up, she loved me too much to let me leave,” he laughs. “We’re too good together.” Deathstorm holds up a hand where in his palm, a fireball forms. “Fire and ice.”

“If you’re not Atlantean, where did you get your powers?” Hunter asks him. Deathstorm shrugs, extinguishing his fireball.

“Where else would mainlanders get powers like this? Central City. The particle accelerator explosion. Harry can explain that for you.”

“No need,” Francisco cuts him off. “Most of us are from Central City.  We know about metahumans. We just didn’t expect to find any on Atlantis.”

Killer Frost, Y/N, and even Deathstorm don’t speak anymore on the subject.

* * *

Barry never expected when he woke up this morning that he’d be meeting a real life king.

The palace throne room is actually an elegant garden courtyard, lush with life, with trees at their greenest, flowers blooming, and so many colorful birds flying about. Everyone is escorted into the garden by palace guards. They’re much more defensive than Y/N, more alike with Killer Frost.

The King of Atlantis, Y/N and Killer Frost’s father, is an old man with long white hair, an equally long and stringy beard, and eyes so white that Barry assumes he might be blind. But any hindrance to his movement around the courtyard are not due to poor eyesight, but rather a weakened body. He carries with him an intricately carved staff. Around his neck is a blue crystal necklace, the same as the other Atlanteans.

He sits on his throne as Y/N and her sister approach and kneel before him. Barry briefly wonders how it’s possible this old man has young daughters like Y/N and Killer Frost but he obviously knows that would be rude to ask.

The three of them engage in a conversation in their native tongue.

**(Y/N’s POV)**

“Daughters,” your father begins in the Atlantean language, “you have brought outsiders into our home. You know the laws. Explain yourselves.” His tone is even but you both know well enough that he’s disappointed and probably angry that rules have been broken.

“Father, Y/N found the one with the glasses in the woods. She healed him.” The disdain in Killer Frost’s voice is evident as she casts you a sly glance. She seems eager to get you in trouble.

“He was hurt! How I choose to use my powers is not my sister’s problem,” you defend yourself. Your father raises and lowers his staff to tap the ground and silence you.

“It is our problem now, Y/N. You have brought outsiders where they are not welcome and now we must deliberate on how to handle this,” he says. Your frustration is growing and the crystal around your neck glows bright. Even Killer Frost reacts to the surge in your power. Her shoulders pull back and her spine straightens.

“You do not understand. We can trust them.”

“All of them?” your sister questions you with a sidelong glance. She has a point. While you feel the urge to trust Barry and Jesse, no one else has given reason to be trusted.

“We will watch them closely, Father. They do not know where we are. We should entertain them for at least a day or two. For Harry? You didn’t trust him at first but that has changed, remember?” you counter and your father starts to nod his head with consideration.

“What does this group have to do with Harry?” he asks. He also waves his hand, gesturing for a guard. He gives him some instructions and then the man disappears. You get to your feet, taking a deep breath to calm yourself until your crystal’s glow has faded. You turn to look at Barry and his group. You extend a hand to Jesse as an invitation to step forward.

“This is Jesse, Father,” you say in English. “She’s Harry’s daughter.”

“So my father is here?” It’s been made clear that Jesse understands your native language but you and your family had spoken too fast. Jesse pulls out a picture from her pocket. “This is what he looks like.”

“Not anymore,” Killer Frost says under her breath. The looks on Jesse’s and Barry’s faces are ones of panic. You wink at Barry to relax him. He doesn’t so much as relax, instead opting for surprise and confusion. Does Barry not understand what a wink is? You’d grasped the concept quickly when walking around the Atlantis Resort.

If he does know what a wink is, does Barry just not know how attractive he is? His posture is perfect, as is his skin. He’s pale with a lean frame and maybe it’s because you’ve never seen those kind of eyes on the island, but his green eyes are mesmerizing.

“Jesse?” A familiar voice comes from across the room and everyone looks in its direction.

“Dad?!”

Jesse runs into her father’s arms for a long overdue reunion. He may not look it–sunkissed skin, unruly black hair and a green sarong–but there’s no mistaking the man known to the mainland as Dr. Harrison Wells.


	4. Chapter 4

_[header](http://winchester-with-wings.tumblr.com/post/160379017551/the-heart-of-atlantis-masterlist) by @heyitsilverwolf_

* * *

**(Barry’s POV)**

Barry is starstruck. He fights the urge to run up to Dr. Wells and tell him everything he’s ever thought of saying. But he resists. This moment is not about him. It’s about the heart wrenching scene unfolding before them all.

Jesse has been reunited with her father after four years.

Barry almost can’t believe how easy it was for them to find him too. He’d thought they’d spend days or weeks searching the landscape with the seemingly inevitable result being that they’d find an accident site or other clues signalling the demise of Dr. Wells. Only in his–and probably Jesse’s–wildest and hopeful dreams would they stumble upon a living and thriving Dr. Wells amongst the Atlanteans. Of course, this happy result most definitely raised some questions too but there was a better time for that.

Jesse is crying tears of joy. She’s collapsed in her father’s arms and together they’re kneeling on the ground. Dr. Wells is cradling her head, kissing the top of her head and stroking her hair. He’s crying too. He’s not blubbering but the tears fall freely, fogging up his glasses.

“I can’t believe you’re here! We found you!” Jesse cries. “I never gave up hope, in all these years!”

“I can’t believe _you’re_ here. I missed you so much. How did you find me?” Dr. Wells replies. He releases Jesse from his hug to hold her at arm’s length and look her over. She’s likely changed in the span of four years.

“It was your notes. Everything you left behind, I figured that there was some chance that you’d be here. And I’m not alone Dad, I’d like to introduce you to Barry Allen,” Jesse says as they both get to their feet and Jesse gestures to him. Dr. Wells wipes his cheeks and takes on a stone-faced expression.

The floodgates open. Barry’s mouth is hanging open and smiling at the same time. His cheeks hurt from the excitement.

“Dr. Harrison Wells. _The_ Harrison Wells!” Barry steps forward to shake his hand. “I have always wanted to meet you. Your thesis on string phenomenology was revolutionary to me. I had it laminated so I could keep it.” The words just pour out like vomit. And although he’s not ashamed of turning Dr. Well’s thesis into a keepsake, he knows the moment he said it, that he wished he could take it back. Dr. Wells has always been known to have a gruff attitude and he doesn’t seem flattered upon Barry’s confession, instead he seems only mildly tolerant of Barry’s fanboying.

“Thank you,” Dr. Wells says as he retracts his hand.

“Barry researched your disappearance too,” Jesse explains.

“Have you been here this whole time?” Barry questions him. Dr. Wells nods but opts to explain later, directing his attention to the rest of the group. Jesse introduces him to Laurel, Francisco and Hunter. Dr. Wells seems sort of stiff with his greetings. He must be the kind of guy who takes a while to warm up to people, Barry figures. Why else would he dislike Hunter and his partners? Y/N speaks with her father again in Atlantean. She turns to Barry with a smile but she steps aside so that her father can speak.

“Why have you come here?” the King asks. He’s addressing Barry as if Y/N has assigned leadership to him but Hunter and Laurel step forward.

“We were brought to your city by your daughters. We had no intention of discovering your secret city. We were fine wandering the island,” Laurel says.

“Wandering is not permitted. This island is our home,” the King bites back. Hunter rests a hand on Laurel’s arm to shield her or hold her back. Barry’s learned that it’s hard to tell with Laurel. She’s a strong and independent woman but she does seem to blindly follow Hunter.

“Your highness, I apologize for my friend. But it’s true, we were not searching for your city. Our expedition was meant for a search and rescue. Harry has been gone from the mainland for a long time. We were following clues and hoping to find him on the resort or in the wilderness. We bear you no ill will.” Hunter’s explanation is amenable to the King as he nods.

“We have kept the doctor here far too long, it would seem,” the King says, casting a glance at Dr. Wells, who’s holding onto Jesse like his life depends on it.

“We measure the passing of time differently here. We did not realize his absence would be noticed and would attract more visitors,” Y/N explains, looking down sheepishly. “Our greatest apologies.”

“But Dad didn’t you tell them that you had left _me_ behind?” Jesse asks, craning her neck to look up at her father. He sighs and nods with guilt.

“I did but…I lost track of time and what I’ve been working on here…it was so important…I can’t wait to show you–”

“What are you working on?” Hunter interrupts. Dr. Wells looks scornfully at Hunter for having cut him off.

“It’s private,” Dr. Wells says in a dangerous whisper. He turns his attention back to his daughter. “Come on Jessie,” he wraps an arm around her shoulders and leads her away.

“Okay but first things first, you have to tell me! What are you wearing?!” Jessie laughs.

* * *

The King grants Barry and Hunter’s group permission to stay in the city for the next few days. Y/N impressed upon her father the importance of Dr. Wells’ work and that he would undoubtedly be leaving with the team once they were sent away. Clearly Dr. Wells wasn’t a prisoner here because the King then insisted on throwing a feast in a few days’ time.

The Atlantean guards are ordered to escort everyone in Barry’s party to their own rooms in the palace. Y/N offers to personally show Barry.

“So you didn’t even know Harry and you came all this way to find him?”

“Dr. Harrison Wells–that’s how we know him on the mainland–is a well-known scientist. He’s very smart and when he disappeared there were many people who wondered what happened to him. So…how did he end up here?” Barry chuckles, baffled. He’s following behind Y/N as she leads him down an ancient, but intact, stone corridor. Barry has to admit that it’s hard to focus and speak while watching her walk ahead of him.

“Harry was drawn here, to our island. But he–as Laurel put it–wandered on this side of the island for quite some time. He might not have survived if Killer Frost and I did not find him. We took him as our prisoner.”

“But he’s no longer your prisoner?” Barry clarified.

“Correct. I became acquainted with him and when I deemed that his intentions were not malicious, I freed him. He chose to stay to work on his project.”

“Which is?” Y/N turns and leans against two wooden doors. She smiles at him and winks. Why does she keep winking at him? Does she know what that means?

“His secret to tell.” Y/N pushes on the doors behind her and they give way. “Welcome to your living quarters! I hope you find everything to your liking.” Barry was in awe, seeing the large elegant four poster bed with silk blankets and a balcony overlooking the city.

Barry wanders around the room for a moment, dumbfounded. Y/N watches him with a cheeky grin. She sits on the foot of his bed while he walks out onto the balcony. When he turns around, the sight of her on his bed is ridiculously enticing and he has to look away.

He sees in the ornate mirror across the room that his cheeks are a fiery red. He rubs the back of his neck and tries to hide his face with his bent arm. Y/N giggles and gets off his bed. She reads him too easily.

“So what do you think?” she asks him.

“This is amazing. Truly. More than I could have ever imagined. And here I thought I was going to be sleeping in a tent on the jungle floor,” Barry chuckles. Y/N looks him up and down.

“Something tells me this suits you better…that you’re not one to sleep in a tent,” she assumes. Barry smiles and sticks his hands in his pockets.

“You would be correct.”

Y/N starts heading for the door. “I’ll get you in a sarong, just wait. Even Harry likes it,” she giggles, tucking her white hair behind her ear.

“Where are you going?” Barry asks her. She spins around and crooks a finger at him.

“I am going to show you my city, Bartholomew,” she speaks with a slight accent and says his name like it’s cute, teasing nickname. She can call him whatever she wants, as long as she keeps looking and winking at him that way.


End file.
